what shocks me is the unreality of the show, some of the things are so stupid, it looks like all you did was make fun of people, I pity the people of King Colony, now they have to deal with 40,ooo hutterites, I expected more of National Geographic channel, I have been gone from the Hutterite sysyem for 20 years and feel you did a great injustice to the people..I think you picked all the negative things and purposely didnt get any positive things..the damage is done now..

Sally – You’re not alone. I’ve heard many others share the same sentiments. Part of the problem is that what the Hutterites consider a “documentary” is nothing like what Jeff Collins had in mind. As Jeff has written on his blog, he was NOT going to King Colony to “bring back stories about them [the Hutterites] growing corn.”

Rather, Jeff needed a story with conflict. And that’s the story he brought to life.

Kristin Sturdevant

Thank you, Alan, for keeping this in front of us. Kristin

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About

Hi. I'm Alan Mairson. I'm a freelance journalist based in Bethesda, Maryland; a former staff writer & editor for National Geographic magazine; and a member & lifelong fan of the National Geographic Society. For details about this project, please check out our inaugural post. For more about my advisers & me, see this. To feel the tight financial grip that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation exerts on the National Geographic Society, peek at these tax returns. And if you'd like to share ideas, questions, or suggestions — or if you just want to heckle :-) — please contact me here. Thanks for stopping by.